Huge crowds flocking the newly opened IKEA store at Nagasandra disrupted traffic flow on a stretch of Tumakuru Road over the weekend. The newly opened outlet received a huge crowd on weekends and people had to wait for nearly three hours to get inside the store.
The police said that many people who had come to the outlet on weekends might have thought that the new outlet had multiplexes, food joints, play areas for children, and others. This is one of the factors for heavy rush, they said.
They have reached out to the public through social media and other forms to inform them that the new store is about home furnishing. As many as 50 police personnel in shifts along with the staff of the IKEA were deployed at strategic locations and at the entry and exit points of the store to inform people not to drive into the venue.
DCP Traffic (West) Kuldeep Kumar R. Jain said, “To remove vehicles parked on the stretch near the outlet, we have deployed towing vehicles. Security staff of the IKEA also helped to remove vehicles parked on the roadside or near residential areas. No fine was imposed for vehicles that are towed”.
The crowd at the IKEA store on Sunday. : | Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN
The official said that as the designated parking area was full at the IKEA outlet, the motorists were directed to go to BIEC ground to park and take a shuttle service provided by IKEA.
“Announcements and direction boards are placed on Tumakuru Road and the Jindal underpass. Customers are requested to follow the guidelines to avoid huge traffic congestion,” a social media post by the traffic police said. The police said that more than 15,000 people might have come to visit the store.
Chandrashekhar B., who went to IKEA on Saturday, said reaching the store was a herculean task and it took three hours in the queue even before entering.
The traffic police were making announcements warning people that it will take a waiting time of three hours to enter the store and were asking people to join the queue only if they were ready for the same. However, none were deterred, he said.
Sushma Prasad, who went on Sunday, said there was absolute chaos on Tumakuru Road. “It took us over an hour to reach the store from BIEC where we parked our car, and later, we had to wait for multiple hours in the queue to enter the store,” she said.
After IKEA opened in the city, the footfall at Nagasandra station, part of the Green Line metro, saw a jump.
Data shared by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) states that on June 21, close to 14,000 people boarded from the station and it had jumped to more than 30,000 on Saturday (June 25). On Sunday, boarding of close to 20,000 passengers was recorded between till 6 p.m.
Chief PRO of BMRCL B.L. Yeshwanth Chavan said, “There is a jump in footfall after the IKEA store opened. However, the station can handle more crowds and the required infrastructure is in place. In future, IKEA will build a foot overbridge directly connecting the metro station with the store”.
